Soul Tear
by Guardian Alpha
Summary: Arika is a normal girl going about a normal life, when one day a Hollow attacks and takes her life. After being sent by a Soul Reaper to the Soul Society it is her dream to become a Soul Reaper and help those under the tyranny of the hollows. (I'm not an avid reader/watcher of bleach, my brother explains everything to me.)


Soul Tear  
Chapter 1: Dying To Live Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters involved except Arika

It was a normal day, sunny, a few clouds, and warm. A young girl with long black hair was walking down the street; she was wearing a school uniform: white button up shirt, and a gray skirt. She was whistling an odd tune as she strolled along.

Unknown to her a strange presence was watching her from the shadows nearby. It was a large black creature with a bone white mask, it was covered in a strange mixture of red designs. The creature licked its lips before charging toward the girl.

She heard something and turned to see the large beast. She screamed loudly as it tackled her.

"Get off!" She shouted as she punched it with her fist

"Not a chance, you've got a lot of spiritual pressure little girl, and I'm about to pig out!" The monster replied

"No!" She screamed as she continued to pound on it in a vain attempt to escape.

"Knock it off!" The beast shouted throwing her into the ground.

She laid there unmoving as the beast crouched down on all fours, preparing to eat her.

"_What is this? Why can't I move my body?"_ She asked herself

"Prepare to die little girl!" the beast launched itself at her mouth opened wide.

Suddenly, its mask cracked as a swordsman appeared behind it.

"Wha-what?" The beast asked turning slowly before disintegrating.

The girl mentally sighed in relief.

"Are you ok?" The swordsman asked leaning down to her

She attempted to nod, but her body wouldn't reply.

"Hello?" The man asked "Can you hear me?"

She attempted to answer, but nothing happened.

"_What's wrong with me? Why can't I move? Am I dying?!"_She began to feel herself ebbing away, her body being left behind.

"No!" She called as she began to see her body, lying in the middle of a crater in the sidewalk, bloodied and broken

"I can't die yet!" she shouted as she stopped moving, she was standing next to the swordsman

"I'm sorry." He said as he stood and turned to her.

"What, you can see me?" She asked

"Yes, I'm a Soul Reaper." He stated, as if that should make any sense

"A soul what?" She asked

"A Soul Reaper, I'm a protector of the world of the living, I defeat monsters like that one just now. Usually I don't let anyone get hurt, but this time I failed, and for that I'm truly sorry."

She stood there, stunned. _"Is this really happening? Did that monster kill me? And what was it talking about when it said I had a lot of Spiritual Pressure?"_

"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions. I'll be happy to answer them." The man told her

"What happens now?" She asked

"I'll send you to a place known as the Soul Society. There you can live peacefully without worry about Hollows or pain."

"Hollows?" She asked

"The beast that attacked you, it's what we call a Hollow, there are more of them. They like to feed on people with unusually high amounts of spiritual pressure."

"That thing mentioned me having a lot of spiritual pressure, what's that?" She asked

"Well, every being releases a small amount of spiritual pressure, some of those, like Hollows and Soul Reapers, release a lot more Spiritual Pressure. Humans are born with the off chance they could have a lot extra spiritual pressure, like you."

"So, that's why that monster attacked me?" She asked

"Yes, Hollows consume humans and Soul Reapers for our spiritual pressure. The more it consumes, the more powerful it gets."

She nodded, her questions answered "Train me." She said finally

"What?" he asked

"I want you to train me to become a Soul Reaper." She explained

The swordsman looked away "I can't, I'm positioned here by the Soul Society to defend this place from Hollows, but I know a place that can train you."

"Where?" she asked

"The Soul Reaper Academy, when you arrive in the soul society, ask around, someone will eventually point you in the right direction." The man said before drawing his sword

"Wait! What are you doing?" She asked

"Sending you to the Soul Society." He said flipping the weapon so the bottom of the handle was up.

He walked over and tapped her forehead, leaving a glowing blue mark on her face. It began to shine brightly and release a slight keening sound before everything around her disappeared in a flash of light, when her vision returned she was standing in the middle of a bustling street, everywhere around her people in traditional Japanese clothes were going about their regular business; carrying large baskets of fish or grain. On both sides were traditional Japanese buildings that looked like shops and houses. She looked down to see she was wearing a kimono.

"What the?" She asked tugging slightly on the material.

"Are you new?" A voice asked her.

She turned around to see a young boy standing behind her.

"Yes, I just got here…" She told him.

"Who are you?" The boy asked.

"Me? My name is Arika." She smiled at him.

"Arika…" The boy repeated slowly.

"Could you show me around? Like I said; I just arrived here."

The boy nodded vigorously and grabbed her hand. He led her through the streets pointing out buildings and naming them off as belonging to different families and the different businesses scattered around. At one point Arika noticed he seemed to be getting sick. As they progressed bags were forming under his eyes and his movements weren't as active or profound.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine." He said with a weak smile.

They stopped in their tracks as they heard a strange sound.

"What was that?" Arika asked.

"Something we shouldn't get involved in." The boy replied.

They heard the sound again. "That doesn't sound good."

"Just ignore it… that's what my dad always says."

It sounded again, and this time it followed with a grunt of pain.

"Someone's getting hurt!" She shouted.

The street around her had their heads lowered and were continuing along with their normal business.

"None of you are going to do anything… why?" She asked.

"They have higher spiritual pressure than we do… it hurts just to go near them." The boy explained. "So we've learned to stay away and let them do what we want if we want to live…"

Arika huffed before ripping her hand out of the boy's grasp. "Show me."

He shook his head "No… I won't."

"Fine, I'll find them myself." She stormed off, looking in each alley to see if she could find the bullies.

She continued to follow the noise, which she assumed was them punching somebody in the stomach, and found them in a back alley behind a grocery and a ramen stand.

"Let him go!" She shouted at them.

The bullies, three skinny men with shaggy hair that had dark looks about them, turned to the newcomer and one of them grinned.

"Seems we have a new girl to the area." He titled his head and his smile widened.

Arika felt a slight pressure build in the area, she didn't do anything, waiting for them to make the first move. The bully seemed annoyed about her standing there. He stood up straight and his face looked like he was concentrating extremely hard on something. Arika felt the pressure increase, it felt like someone had put a one pound weight on each shoulder.

"What the hell?" The man asked suddenly, the pressure decreasing to almost nothing.

"We've been working all day. It's not gonna be as strong Mako." One of the other bullies said.

"Fine, then we'll do this the old fashioned way." 'Mako' said, reaching behind him and pulling out a butcher's knife.

The other two did the same and they all slowly approached Arika.

"Whoa… stay back." She called at them, holding up her hands.

Grins stretched across each of their faces as they converged on Arika.

"Stay back!" She screamed and they fell to their knees.

"What?"

The three bullies were on the ground, looking as if some giant monster was pushing down on them with a finger, keeping them on the floor.

"This spiritual pressure… now I understand." The third bully was saying, he looked up at Arika, "Please, stop, make it stop!"

Arika looked at him, she was scared at what he was saying.

"I didn't do this, what are you talking about?" She asked.

"Your spiritual pressure, you're exerting too much, stop!" Mako shouted.

Arika thought about what he said and imagined her spiritual pressure stopping, and she willed that idea to work.

The pressure suddenly lifted and she smiled as she saw the four men stand up.

The bullies each turned and ran, putting as much distance between them and Arika as possible. The man they'd been beating up approached her and smiled weakly, taking her hand in his.

"Thank you so much. That really showed them." He said.

"S-sure…" She replied, blushing slightly.

"I don't know if this is why you're here, but there's a Soul Reaper academy on the south side of the city, a huge compound with multiple story buildings, you can't miss it."

"I don't think they'll just let me in will they?" Arika asked, "I mean, I don't know what a Soul Reaper even is." She lied.

"Oh, well, in that case I'll come with you and vouch for your actions. They're a good group the Soul Reapers, and they always need more people like you."

He tried to widen his smile, but didn't do much. He turned and began to lead her through the cities winding buildings and streets until they arrived at the large compound he'd described.

"This is it." He said.

"The Soul Reaper Academy…" Arika said to herself.

"Hey! You there!" A voice called to them from above.

Two men wearing black kimonos were staring down at them.

"I've brought a candidate for the Soul Reaper Academy. I can vouch for her actions that she has the Spiritual Pressure to apply!"

The two Soul Reapers looked at each other shaking their heads.

"We'll send an examiner out to confirm your statement, hold on."

One of them disappeared behind the wall and half an hour later and older man and the one from on top the wall appeared from the gate.

"So, I've been told you wish to join the Soul Reaper Academy." The older man said.

"Yes…" Arika answered hesitantly.

The man seemed to notice. "I'm going to need to see if you can at least control your spiritual pressure as this man claims." He indicated the man Arika had saved.

She nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. She reached for the power she'd felt when she had pinned the three bullies. A sudden gasp told her something had happened. She opened her eyes and saw the Sentry and the man from before were on the ground.

"That's enough." The instructor said.

Arika willed it to stop as before and she saw them stand up.

"That was a crude display, but effective… I suppose I could let you in…" he said, uncertain.

"Sir, I was rescued by a Soul Reaper, the man in charge of guarding Karakura town at the moment. He told me to come here if I wished to become a Soul Reaper."

The trainer's eyes widened slightly. "Hichu-san sent you here? In that case, I guess I can't turn you down. He's never suggested someone to come here, and he's got very high standards."

Arika smiled as the instructor led her into the compound, she turned and waved good-bye at the man she's protected and he smiled and waved back before disappearing behind the compound's gates.


End file.
